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Using a Bicycle to Avoid Pain at the Pump
Published August 21, 2005 HeraldToday.com
Finally uncrated a bicycle I received as a gift two years ago but never got around to assembling until last weekend.
It's not for any joy ride, either. With all the ridiculous gas prices around town, that bike may very well become my primary mode of transportation to work and other nearby destinations.
OK, not until this sauna-like weather cools off. But that will happen long before these gas prices do. If I wasn't considering ways to beat the gas price crunch before, I sure am now. Talk about sticker shock. I thought I'd become inured to it at the gas pump, getting used to regular unleaded for $2.28 a gallon.
So I couldn't believe my eyes when I passed my usual gas station last Monday.
Regular unleaded was $2.55 a gallon. On Friday, it was $2.59.
And that was still a dime cheaper than some other stations I checked out.
Will this gouging never end? It's been one hit after another. Double-digit
percentage rate hikes in homeowners' insurance.
Ditto for future Florida Power & Light bills. Gas prices heading toward
$3 a gallon and possibly beyond.
This is open season, and you and I are the game. It's almost laughable. There
was a photo in Friday's USA Today of an Alabama service station, and it spelled
out the ramifications of our present driving dilemma.
The sign read:
REG UNL ... ARM
SUPER REG ... LEG
But there is nothing amusing about the obscene profits being raked in by Big Oil. Unless you happen to be a shareholder. I am not.
Every time I fill up, I try to make a tank of gas last at least two weeks, thinking it will keep me ahead. I drive only when and where it's necessary. But the gas companies keep taking more and more and more out of my pocket.
A year ago, regular unleaded cost a little over $1.80 a gallon here. We thought we were being ripped off then! So what can we do? Well, I'm going to start leaving my bucket of bolts at home, except when I absolutely need it, and find other ways to get to work.
First, there's the Manatee County bus system. When I lived in Anna Maria five years ago and my pickup was out of action, MCAT proved to be real handy and dependable. I might just do that again, especially if it's a rainy day.
Then there's hoofing it. After I bought my house three years ago, I told folks that was one of the advantages: It's close enough to walk to work. I might have to find out.
But not before giving that new bike a whirl. Come October, a bike ride across town might be a pleasant way to start the work day and finish it. Good exercise, too.
And what a satisfying way to keep my hard-earned money away from Big Oil.
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